Assignment of a Fixed Address to a Pointer
Weakness ID: 587 (Weakness Base)Status: Draft
+ Description

Description Summary

The software sets a pointer to a specific address other than NULL or 0.

Extended Description

Using a fixed address is not portable because that address will probably not be valid in all environments or platforms.

+ Time of Introduction
  • Architecture and Design
  • Implementation
+ Applicable Platforms

Languages

C

C++

C#

Assembly

+ Common Consequences
ScopeEffect
Integrity

If one executes code at a known location, an attacker might be able to inject code there beforehand.

Availability

If the code is ported to another platform or environment, the pointer is likely to be invalid and cause a crash.

Confidentiality

The data at a known pointer location can be easily read or influenced by an attacker.

+ Demonstrative Examples

Example 1

(Bad Code)
Example Language: C 
int (*pt2Function) (float, char, char)=0x08040000;
int result2 = (*pt2Function) (12, 'a', 'b');
// Here we can inject code to execute.
+ Potential Mitigations

Phase: Implementation

Never set a pointer to a fixed address.

+ Weakness Ordinalities
OrdinalityDescription
Primary
(where the weakness exists independent of other weaknesses)
+ Relationships
NatureTypeIDNameView(s) this relationship pertains toView(s)
ChildOfWeakness BaseWeakness Base344Use of Invariant Value in Dynamically Changing Context
Research Concepts (primary)1000
ChildOfCategoryCategory465Pointer Issues
Development Concepts (primary)699
ChildOfCategoryCategory738CERT C Secure Coding Section 04 - Integers (INT)
Weaknesses Addressed by the CERT C Secure Coding Standard (primary)734
ChildOfWeakness ClassWeakness Class758Reliance on Undefined, Unspecified, or Implementation-Defined Behavior
Research Concepts1000
+ Taxonomy Mappings
Mapped Taxonomy NameNode IDFitMapped Node Name
CERT C Secure CodingINT11-CTake care when converting from pointer to integer or integer to pointer
+ White Box Definitions

A weakness where code path has:

1. end statement that assigns an address to a pointer

2. start statement that defines the address and the address is a literal value

+ Content History
Modifications
Modification DateModifierOrganizationSource
2008-07-01Eric DalciCigitalExternal
updated Time of Introduction
2008-08-01KDM AnalyticsExternal
added/updated white box definitions
2008-09-08CWE Content TeamMITREInternal
updated Applicable Platforms, Description, Relationships, Other Notes, Weakness Ordinalities
2008-11-24CWE Content TeamMITREInternal
updated Relationships, Taxonomy Mappings
2009-03-10CWE Content TeamMITREInternal
updated Relationships
2009-07-27CWE Content TeamMITREInternal
updated Common Consequences, Description, Other Notes
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